


Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

by smittenwithsugden



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Family, M/M, Support, discussion of consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 20:21:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10395309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smittenwithsugden/pseuds/smittenwithsugden
Summary: Robert tells Liv about Rebecca and her reaction is not quite what he had suspected





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I channelled a lot of my own thoughts through Liv and I know that the Chance of her actually reacting this way are next to nothing, but I still wanted to write it and get it out of my system. This scenario is my happy place right now because I would love to see at least someone stick by Robert through this.   
> (Also a big thank you to Zo'e for the title. It means something that you say when a small child says something that surprises you because it shows an adult's wisdom and understanding of a situation)

“Robert, can you help me with this math stuff?“ Liv asked, practically falling through the door and into the back room. 

Robert was sitting on the sofa, the wedding picture of him and Aaron on the table in front of him, and he looked sort of spaced out.

“Robert…,” Liv started again and Robert’s head shot up. It took a fraction of a second to pull himself together, but Liv saw. She saw the utter despair on his face and her math homework was quickly forgotten.

“Hey,” she said and sat down next to him. “It’ll only be a few weeks now and then he’ll be back with us.”

Robert clenched his jaw and Liv could practically see how he tried to build himself up again, be strong for her.

“I know,” he said. “It’s just hard….”

“Because of Chas? You two had a row?” she asked.

“I guess, you could say that,” Robert said with a sigh.

“Why though?” she asked, actually concerned.

“She’s mad at me,” he said. “Can’t say I can really blame her.”

“But why?” Liv asked indignantly. “You’ve done great, taken care of me and Noah and the Mill. What’s she complaining about?”

She could see she asked the wrong thing because Robert was clenching his jaw again, his eyes filling up. She guessed they did that a lot in the past couple days because his eyes were already red-rimmed.

“I can’t…,” Robert said, shaking his head. “You’d hate me if you knew.”

Liv scrunched her face. “Now I really have to know.”

Robert was barely holding on. He had this deep desire to tell somebody and they would understand. But then he immediately knew he didn’t deserve it. He deserved all the hate he got. He deserved Chas’s hate and her slap and all she did. He hadn’t deserved her jumping in and even though he had been relieved in that moment he couldn’t help but feel like he should have told Aaron right then and there. He felt like he just kept digging his hole deeper and deeper.

He wanted to tell her because, he realised, he felt like he didn’t deserve her sympathy, didn’t deserve having Liv in his corner now.

“I slept with Rebecca,” he said and what followed was a silence that he could hardly handle. He couldn’t look at her, his eyes fixed on a spot on the table.

“You did what?” Liv asked and he didn’t need to look at her to know her face was full of desperation and anger and disappointment and probably disbelief.

He wanted to say something but then he felt the punch. Little, small fist punching his arm and he took it.

“You stupid idiot,” she said and her voice sounded broken.

Robert took every punch and didn’t look up once. When it stopped he slowly looked up and saw Liv leaning back like she was exhausted.

“Why?” she asked and her voice sounded very small. “He trusted you, I trusted you…we all trusted you to not do this.”

“I know,” Robert said. “I’m just a screw up. I always mess everything up.”

Liv shook her head and her eyes looked feisty, like she was not giving up.

“No,” she said. “There is more to this. And you better tell me right now, the whole story. Don’t spare me because I need to know.”

Robert bit his lip. Why did he start this? He wanted to protect Liv and now he told her because of selfish reasons, because he thought it would make him feel a bit better to offload and now he burdened Liv. Well, he thought, might as well do a proper job of it now.

“I lied before,” he said. “Aaron wasn’t fine when I visited him. He was on edge, obviously needing a fix. He hardly listened to me when I told him about you being expelled, like he didn’t care. I tried to reason with him, tried to get through to him. He said that the thought of us… that I… was no use to him in there. That I could do one. I thought we were over and it all went downhill from there. I went to the Mill with a bottle of whisky, pretty much trashed the place. I think…well I did text Rebecca to come over, and she did.”

“Go on,” Liv said when Robert hadn’t continued, just sat there and twisted his ring.

“I don’t really remember the details,” he said, swallowing hard. “But I said some harsh things about Aaron, told her we were over. I thought we were. I had this idea in my head to hurt him back, I wanted to lash out, I wasn’t thinking straight and I just went for it. It was the stupidest thing I ever did.”

He bit back a sob that had crept up and suddenly he felt two arms wrapping around him. Liv was hugging him and he couldn’t hold back. Tears started rolling and he buried his face in her neck. After a couple more sobs he pulled back again, this wasn’t how it should be. She shouldn’t comfort him, he didn’t deserve it. He was supposed to be strong for her and he messed that up.

“So you were drunk?” Liv asked.

“Yeah, I was, a lot, but that’s no excuse,” Robert said.

“And Rebecca?” Liv asked, sort of ignoring his answer.

“I don’t know, no, I think, but it doesn’t matter,” Robert said. “It was all me, I came onto her.”

“Of course it matters,” Liv said with a firm voice. “You were drunk and sad and miserable and what you would have needed was a friend who took care of you not somebody who jumped into bed with you! Oh, that little snake, being all nice to me before, pretending like she cared.”

“Liv, I don’t think you understand…,” Robert started, not quite believing what he was hearing. Surely he was the only one to blame in this situation, leading Rebecca on.

“Oh, I think I do,” she said. “You were in a bad place and you had this stupid idea in your head to lash out and just destroy everything that means something to you. And instead of being anything close to a decent human being and telling you to sober up and clear your head she took advantage of the situation!”

“Liv, no…,” Robert tried, but Liv was on a roll.

“Was she sorry at least?” Liv asked. “The morning after?”

“What? No?” Robert said, the thought never even occurring to him. “She thought we were gonna… I don’t know…get together or something. She felt used and blamed me.”

“Okay,” Liv said. She hugged him again and then hit his arm again. “I’m still mad at you, you know? Don’t think you get a free pass, but right now: I have to go.”

“Liv, please, let’s just talk,” Robert pleaded, not wanting to be alone mostly, but also feeling so comforted in the fact that Liv was not condoning him completely.

“We’ll talk later,” Liv said and left.

\--

“Who do you think you are?” Liv asked barging through the back door of Home Farm into the office where only Rebecca was sitting at a desk.

“Great,” she said, “listen, I already got an earful by Chas. I will leave your precious Aaron alone.”

“I’m not here for him right now,” Liv hissed. “I’m here for Robert!”

“What?” Rebecca asked confused. “He’s a cheating liar, why would you…”

“Oh, yeah, that’s convenient for you, isn’t it? That he cheated before, that that is what people will see with this, right?” Liv sneered.

“I’m sorry, I don’t follow…” Rebecca said looking at Liv like she could not be taken seriously.

“What Robert needed that night was a friend! One who took the bottle away from him, told him all will be better in the morning and put him to sleep! Not some pathetic something desperate to get laid!”

“Liv!” Rebecca said, clearly surprised and offended by her tone. “He came onto me… I didn’t do anything…”

“Oh, okay,” Liv said, folding her arms in front of her chest. “I’m a stupid little girl, please explain to me how sex works if one person doesn’t do anything!”

“Well, okay, but he wanted it…” she started again.

“He was drunk! And sad! And yeah, okay, he was probably mouthing off like crazy, because that is how he is, but you should have known better! You were sober and you’ve been there before right? You know how much he loves my brother but you didn’t care at all! You pretend like you’re this caring friend and you are so blameless in all this, but you’re not! You were selfish and just out to get what you could and now Robert has to suffer through this while you are gonna get away scot free. Because of course everybody is gonna be pissed at him. Imagine the roles were reversed, imagine it was you being drunk and vulnerable and he would have been the one responding to your drunken passes. He would be the monster right now!”  
Rebecca just stood there shell shocked, clearly at a complete loss at what to say.

“I’m sorry…I….” Rebecca stammered.

“Didn’t think. Yeah, seems to be your thing,” Liv hissed. “Don’t ever come near my family again!”


End file.
